Sony PSP Concept Revealed, PS2 Colors Diversified

An anonymous reader writes "1UP.com has posted a concept image of Sony's PSP handheld, as shown at a presentation about Sony's transformation and restructuring plan." The article analyzes the in-progress design: "Most conceptions of the PSP have envisioned a clamshell design like that of the Game Boy Advance SP, but this concept obviously favors a simpler, one-piece, horizontally arranged design. The Universal Media Disc loads into the back, and there's a loop for a handy carrying strap in one corner." Another article on 1UP shows new PlayStation 2 colors as part of a Japanese-only price drop/bundle announcement, including a special-edition "ceramic white" PS2 bundled with Gran Turismo 4 Prologue, and a Gundam bundle that includes a gold-colored PS2.

Comments

Thoughts of an Avid Gamer

[MBCook]

I don't know about the rest of you, but the FIRST thing that popped into my head when I saw that thing was the Atari Lynx.

With the screen exposed like that, and not even recessed, I would be worried that it would get scratched easily. I'm worried about the power button's placement, and I hope that it has to be held for a half second to turn the thing off so you won't hit it accidently.

My guess is that the directional buttons/pad is/are analog, because I would think that putting an analog stick on a handheld would tend to break off or get damaged. There also don't seem to be any shoulder buttons, so if they plan to port PS1 games, some might not be easy (although some games never even used 'em).

Putting the discs in cartridges is a good idea, and they have expirence (MiniDiscs) and it being Sony I bet it will have good battery life (unlike, IIRC, the Lynx), but I wonder if it will be built in rechargable or AA(A)s (my guess is LithIon).

I guess my last comment is the screen. It's widescreen, very cool. I think that will play well with many types of games and if their "watch movies on it" idea ever takes off, that holds good.

OK, this is the REAL last comment. Wouldn't it be cool if they released a rewriteable disc for the thing and some kind of little DVD->PSP conversion unit or software or something so that you could "copy" your DVDs to it to watch on the go, so you wouldn't have to buy movies twice? It will never happen, but maybe some 3rd party will do it!